THE GIFTS OF GOD — Sondra Ray and Markus Ray on A Course in Miracles

A Course in Miracles is for the working person, one who is willing to step outside of the "conditioned mind." For the "non Christian" person, it may have a deeper appeal. A Course in Miracles is Universal Knowledge that tells us what is True, forever, regardless of our "religious upbringing." ACIM establishes beyond a shadow of a doubt, our Self-Identity as our Source created me. We all have an "ego self" that is not so connected to our Source, and therefore our identification is with our "problems" —fear, guilt, anger, judgments, insecurities, doubts, regrets, etc. When we Identify with our Higher Self as our Source created us to be, our life changes into one free of these problems. We notice our real Identity is Love, Peace and JOY! We replace our hell we made up with the Heaven our SOURCE created. We are in the present, now, engaged in this Heaven. What could be better? A Course in Miracles and Rebirthing can take us there. Why not go in this direction?

CAN WE ACCEPT our own "teaching" of A Course in Miracles? The Teaching comes from the Christ, but are we accepting the rewards of teaching? Have we accepted "the comfort of our own teaching?" The Real Teacher has come to us beyond our thought system. The Christ is here in the teaching for us to accept. As "teachers"of A Course in Miracles, we have to fully let go of our ego's thought system. The witnesses of Truth are here in our life, but we have to embrace the Thoughts of God that have produced these results. We can replace our ego's thought system with the Divine Thought System of the Holy Spirit. Can we fully embrace the Higher Self's truth, instead of insisting that the illusions that appear to us as struggle and strife are not real. The REAL Cause and Effect Relationships of the Holy Spirit lead us across the Bridge to HEAVEN where the Holy Masters stand to pull us across the bridge . This is the real REWARD of the Teaching. We enter into Heaven by teaching it, and embracing it for ourselves.

THE POWER OF HOLINESS is in us. This proceeds from the Holy Spirit in us. It is clear we do not understand miracles, but we do have witnesses that prove themselves to us. We do not "do them," but the Holy Spirit in us extends the miracles and gives us the witnesses to these extra ordinary encounters. Holiness includes everyone, and within this Universal Field of Reality, the miracles correct all errors in our mind. This is cause for surrender and Joy. The Holy Spirit knows our needs before we have them, and if we Trust in Him to provide, there is a certainty that all of our needs are met. The Holy Spirit is the part of us that does understand miracles. It is natural to trust this Power of Holiness that is within us. We can do this today. We need not wait to have the awareness of this Power in us.

We begin a new Chapter, #16, The Forgiveness of Illusions, today in Valencia, Spain. The first section is a very key section. "To empathize is not to join in the suffering of others. True Empathy is a function of the Holy Spirit, and we do not really know what true empathy is. The first paragraph in this Section totally undoes the notion that "empathy" is "to share in the suffering" of others. The ego wants to empathize what is not working. It wants to "make real" what is not. This Section harkens to the lesson #248, "Whatever suffers is not part of me." The Holy Spirit sees our contradictions and illusions, but does not make them real. Understanding is not of us. We can leave Empathy in the hands of the Holy Spirit, Who would always free us from the past, from fear, anger or guilt that brought about our suffering in the first place. We need "do nothing."

This is a new action of BLESSING. A sacred exchange is a BLESSING. This news will be shared on FRIDAY. A Blessings is seeing our Brothers and Sisters as One with us. This is challenging to include those people who "irritate us." They are our "saviors for the day.” The powerful prayer in this lesson is : "Give me your blessing, Holy Son of God. I would behold you with the eyes of Christ and see my perfect sinlessness in you." We can do this if we are willing, and “put away pride” long enough to have the Peace of God instead.

CHRISTMAS as the end of sacrifice. Sacrifice is solely of our making. God's will for us is to give and receive JOY. Christ represents this full awareness, and He is within us. In fact, He is Us. This makes us Host to Him, and he is Host to God. Therefore we are Host to God in our Self which is JOINED in the Christ Consciousness. Joy is ours. Sacrifice is not of our true SELF. We can simply forgive ourselves, and let it go. AMEN.

What is the real REBIRTH? There would be a relinquishment of guilt and sacrifice in order to embrace our true Self in the Christ. The time of rebirth is the time of Christ. Being HOST to the ego, or HOSTAGE of God is the perspective the ego would like to maintain. Being a Host implies free will and joy; being a Hostage implies a sacrifice and being against our will. But we have this backwards. The real REBIRTH is the reversal of our thinking, which is already "upside down." God asks us for no "sacrifice" or "suffering" of any kind. The Ego would maintain "guilt" and ask us for tremendous "sacrifice." We can be HOST to God as we wake up, and let go of being Hostage of the ego's addiction to pain and suffering. This is the real REBIRTH that is offered to us.

Our attraction to God is undeniable. It is a natural longing to return to our true home, to the place where we know we belong. Holy Vision is the state of seeing ourselves and others "beyond the body," as the Great Rays of our true Self. This Vision of Holiness shows us our unlimited reality. Limitations are of the body, and we have to rise above the attachments we have to thought and our body. These attachments are blocking our Holy Vision of the Great Rays. Gratifications and pleasures of the body divert our attention away from Holy Vision. Heaven is the state of being that is Pure Joy, Perfect Happiness, not bound by "limitations," free of fear, guilt or anger, in a constant contact with the Love of God.

Our Holy Relationship with the HOLY SPIRIT, the Christ, and with GOD is the only real Relationship. All of our Relationships in life depend on the right mindedness we establish in this Holy Relationship. We are redeemed when we are free of our ego's voice of littleness, and we are listening to the voice of our Higher Self that is in Communication with our Creator. God gives us the entire Sonship, so everyone is in our universal “Brotherhood" that JOINS us in the Christ Consciousness. DIVINE LOVE is the whole basis for Love. Our "special relationships" are transformed into holy ones with the DIVINE LOVE brought to our attention by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Instant is the means by which we enter into this sacred dimension. There is no "separation," therefore, our Minds are returned to communication with our Creator which is the only Real Relationship.

There is no "sacrifice" in true Love. There is no lack in Divine Love, and Divine Love is the only Love free of "guilt, fear, or anger." In short, the ego's version of special relationships has no basis in Love. It pretends to be "loving" but it is premised on need and obligation, then it deteriorates into anger and guilt when these "needs" are not met. We do not recognize this "lack" that demands our partner "meet our need," and this "lack" makes us angry. Then we project that "anger" outward, and anger's function is to make another feel "guilty." The vicious chain of "Lack-Sacrifice-Anger-Guilt" forms the basis of our special relationships. And most of our relationships have been conceived in "specialness." We can turn every relationship over to the Holy Spirit to cleanse and purify for us, in order to give ALL of our relationships a HOLY PURPOSE. We may not fully know this purpose, but the Holy Spirit does, and can show us that real Divine Love is possible.